28 results

Establishing a national end of life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia

Project number: 2023-124
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $273,080.00
Principal Investigator: Anissa Lawrence
Organisation: TierraMar Ltd trading as Ocean Earth Foundation
Project start/end date: 29 Sep 2024 - 29 Jun 2026
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Building on the circularity discussions and work being undertaken by FRDC and the industry, this project seeks to undertake the legwork required to establish a nationwide on-demand End of life (EOL) fishing gear recovery system for Australia and pilot it in key locations. The materials that many nets and ropes are made of are highly valuable and recyclable and in fact in many other countries, is already being recycled or remanufactured. Until now, having a national system has been cost prohibitive due to the large distances and need for economies of scale and limited local buyer interest. As a part of the national targets set by the Australian Government relating to plastics use and recycling, commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors have been exploring how to move to a circular economy model and reduce plastic inputs through a variety of projects run by FRDC and others. However, with fishing gear the biggest plastic polymer input, and contamination challenges, there has yet to be a suitable system established.

This project seeks to enable the opportunities that addressing EOL gear provides in Australia to the commercial fishing and aquaculture sector through the establishment of an effective EOL fishing gear recovery system for the country to reduce the landfill costs to industry. It seeks to build on the learnings from previous projects as well as the ten years of experience of our partner Bureo has in in operating an EOL fishing gear recovery program. Bureo currently have an EOL gear recovery system active in 9 countries.

The key objectives are:
● By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system implemented across key fishing ports, and key aquaculture centres benefiting regional communities and fisheries conservation and assisting the Australian Government to address plastic recovery/recycling targets.
● By the end of 2024, the enabling environment for an effective and fit for purpose EOL fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system is in place within Australia, with commencement of recycling underway in key pilot locations.

Objectives

1. By March 2025 the feasibility of and logistical requirements are understood to establish a national end of life recovery system for commercial fishing and aquaculture gear in Australia and an enabling pathway for roll out created.
2. By the end of 2026 there is an effective end-of-life fishing/aquaculture gear recovery system for Australia implemented across at least 5 key fishing ports, with measurable benefits being delivered to regional communities, industry, conservation, while contributing towards the Australian Government’s recycling targets.
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Partnering to deliver national research, development and extension for Australia’s recreational fishing sector: management project 2022-2024

Project number: 2021-124
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $426,082.00
Principal Investigator: Andrew Rowland
Organisation: Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF)
Project start/end date: 30 Jun 2022 - 29 Sep 2025
Contact:
FRDC

Need

There is an opportunity to create a new partnership with the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) to aggregate information from a regional and jurisdictional level to a national forum with the view to provide advise the FRDC in prioritising strategic and tactical investments in RD&E to deliver positive outcomes for the Australian recreational sector.
An ARFF – FRDC partnership could be extend beyond simply prioritisation, to include establishing opportunities for effective and targeted extension and adoption of R&D outputs to effect cultural and behavioural changes within recreational sector beneficiaries.
A properly resourced and coordinated collaboration may also identify opportunities for co-investment with traditional and non-traditional sources, particularly those linked to the ARFF network.
This proposal looks to formalise a partnership between the recreational fishing sector and the FRDC and outlines the structure, function, resourcing and phases of that partnership model.
The effective delivery of this partnership model will in turn derive benefits to the recreational sector, its supporters, the broader Australian community, and the FRDC through the delivery of the R&D Plan 2020-2025.

Objectives

1. Proactively work with the recreational fishing community and key partners to identify and coordinate national and regional RD&E priorities, and assist to develop scopes to address those priorities
2. Inform FRDC and stakeholders of the shifting landscape and capability, and emerging needs of the Australian (and international) recreational sector relevant to the FRDC's R&D Plan 2022-2025
3. Ensure quality and relevance of R&D investments undertaken by the FRDC to the recreational sector through technical and extension advice and support for FRDC management and project teams
4. Support extension and adoption of R&D in those areas relevant to the Australian recreational sector, and aligning to FRDC’s R&D Plan 2020-25, with an aspiration to enhance behaviour change, as well as capacity and capability in the sector
5. Support management of external national and international partnerships delivering recreational R&D across FRDC
6. Facilitate co-investment in RD&E which benefits the recreational fishing community nationally, and aligns to the FRDC’s R&D Plan 2020-25, to assist in its delivery
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